


Down to the Beach

by FrozenHearts



Series: Din Djarin Accidentally Adopts A Bunch Of Jedi And There's Nothing He Can Do About It [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Fusion, Babies, Babysitting, Bounty Hunters, Canon Compliant, Dads in space, F/M, Force Sensitive Baby Yoda, Force Sensitivity, Force-Sensitive Rey, Gen, Jakku, Jedi Rey (Star Wars), Mandalorian Culture, Mentioned Omera, Mentioned Wista, Post-Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Space Dad Mando, The Force, The Mandalorian (TV) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21633982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenHearts/pseuds/FrozenHearts
Summary: While on the run, the Mandalorian loses track of the child, only to find him playing with a scrapper girl.
Relationships: BB-8 & Rey, Baby Yoda & Rey, Cara Dune & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Rey & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), The Mandalorian & Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV), The Mandalorian/Omera (The Mandalorian TV)
Series: Din Djarin Accidentally Adopts A Bunch Of Jedi And There's Nothing He Can Do About It [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2048009
Comments: 11
Kudos: 633
Collections: Movies





	Down to the Beach

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry to disappoint but there are no seagulls in this fic lmaoooo

After leaving the farm on Sarogan, the Mandalorian wasn't entirely sure where he was going to go. With the Imperial army somehow up and running again, with the Bounty Hunter Guild after his head, the Mandalorian was frazzled and tired and if he was being honest, a little hungry, but he had the child to worry about now. As if reading his mind, the child cooed, large green ears flopping as it reached for the ball on the brake stick.

Carefully, he unscrewed it and dropped it into the kid's wiggly fingers with a stern " Don't eat it," and turned his attention back to the many screens and blips on his ship's dashboard. He was almost out of hyperspace, the radar examining the surrounding planets and he jumped as the baby made a noise the same time the radar locked onto a location. 

The Mandalorian cursed under his breath, checking to see if the child wasn't choking on the ball (it was floating above his palm, those big black eyes shiny with wonder and for a moment the Mandalorian didn't want to look away) before reading the scan. 

"Jakku, huh?" The Mandalorian said out loud, smiling to himself when he caught the kid's attention. The child waddled over to his seat, and the Mandalorian obligingly picked him up, a familiar weight in his lap as he pointed out each little blip on the scanner.

"Wanna stretch your legs for a bit, you little womp rat?" 

The baby gurgled, so the Mandalorian took that as a "yes."

\------

Jakku was an absolute garbage dump.

Upon landing, the Mandalorian found himself at the Niimah Outpost and was immediately accosted by all manner of life form as he exited the boarding ramp. 

"Is that real Beskar armor?!"

"Good room and board for-"

"Hey, wanna let me see what's under that mask?"

Rolling his eyes, the Mandalorian marched forward, shoulders squared as he headed for the marketplace. If he didn't run into any other vagabonds and assholes vying for his attention, he could get the child a new blanket, maybe a new robe, considering he didn't know how old the baby's current one was. Just as he was about to beckon for the child to follow him, he froze, armor clinking as he whirled around.

The baby wasn't following him.

Oh, Kriff. 

Spraying sand, the Mandalorian raced towards the market, eyes peeled as he glared at passerby; he wasn't entirely sure what to yell, since he never named the kid and he had no idea what species he was-

"Looking to sell some scrap?" a nasally voice caught the Mandalorian's attention. He turned to see a pale fleshy alien with a long nose and wings eyeing him from a stall.

The Mandalorian shook his head, "Not interested."

The salesman came out from behind the counter, beady eyes boring into the Mandalorian even through the thick Beskar armor and it took all of his strength not to whip out his blaster and shoot the guy in the head as he ran gross fingers along his left gauntlet. There were too many people and the Mandalorian didn't want to attract any attention, but the kid was missing and-

An idea sprang forth and the Mandalorian wrenched himself away from the vendor, ignoring the angry shouts that followed him- he had a kid to find! 

"- that droid that girl refused to sell me would make even less than your armor!" 

The Mandalorian grit his teeth, tensing as he stole a peek over his shoulder; this guy was obviously stupid or he wouldn't have followed. Just trying to male a quick buck on this backwater planet, sure, but the Mandalorian didn't have time to deal with black market scum. 

"I mean!" the vendor's wings made a slight buzzing noise as it tried to hover near the Mandalorian's elbow, "Beskar is rare! You could make a killing! Whaddya say?"

The Mandalorian was grateful he never was supposed to take off his helmet or the vendor would be shying away from the deadliest glare in the whole galaxy. 

"Not interested," the Mandalorian stated as bluntly as he could, "but this girl.... What did she look like?"

The vendor snorted, gaze darting to the newly crafted pauldron the Mandalorian wore. Scratching his chin, he said, "Eh, human girl. Pale, brown hair tied in three buns- real boring looking too-"

The Mandalorian was stalking off the moment the words left the vendor's mouth; people and aliens spat in protest and shock as he shoved his way through the crowd, but he didn't care- he had to find his kid before the Empire did. 

\-----

The Mandalorian found himself on one of Jakku's many beaches after using his telescope to follow the child's footprints. The water was black, crashing against the shore line in brisk waves to litter the sand with debris and glass and shells. It was practically void of life, save for the girl the vendor had mentioned. 

It was when the Mandalorian was dumping gritty sand out of his boots did he spot her- a human woman with brown hair tied in three buns, her white clothes stained brown and yellow from the dust and dirt of the planet. And as the vendor said, a small BB-8 unit was rolling after her, beeping incessantly and he heard her laugh and shush the thing as if it were a pet skag. 

"We'll find his papa, don't worry," she was telling the droid, and the Mandalorian watched as she turned slightly behind her, calling back with a coo, "C'mon, little guy!" 

If the Mandalorian was being honest, the way he shot up and charged at her was definitely not the appropriate response upon seeing her kneel down to splash in the water with the kid. It was like the village all over again; Wista always begged to play with the kid and Omera always had to assure him it was okay, that Wista and the child would be fine and then she would bring him his meal to eat by his lonesome in the barn. 

Another mistake he made was pulling out his staff, charging the electrical prongs and swinging at the girl- who met him with a clack of her own staff and a surprised grunt.

"BB-8!" she yelled, brown eyes growing hard under his glare. The droid beeped and rolled to settle in front of the kid, blinking with colorful lights in an effort to distract him, no doubt.

Honestly, the Mandalorian should have gotten the kid something to play with other than the ball from the fuel switch on the switch. He was torn from his thoughts as the woman pushed him back with her staff, teeth gritted and feet planted firmly in a wide stance.

"You're a fighter," the Mandalorian commented.

"I live on Jakku," she spat matter-of-factly as if it made perfect sense.

The Mandalorian stole a glance at the kid and the droid: the little green alien was babbling to the robot, small green hands tracing the orange and white hexagonal patterns on its surface. 

"Why did you attack?" the woman asked bitterly, "I have no issue with you."

"I take issue with someone when they kidnap my kid."

The woman balked, "Your kid? Do you k kw what species he is?!"

The Mandalorian raised an eyebrow despite knowing the woman wouldn't be able to see it under the helmet, "Don't need to be blood to be family. This is the way."

The second the words left his mouth, the woman tightened her grip on her staff and shoved as hard as she could. She staggered slightly, but was successful in knocking the Mandalorian to the ground, beaming triumphantly as he landed heavily in the sand. 

"You're a Mandalorian," she said, breathing hard.

The Mandalorian groaned- something in his back hurt, his joints ached from walking through all that sand, but he felt eyes boring i to him and he turned his head to see the child waddling toward him, hands wiggling as he reached for the Mandalorian. The Mandalorian chuckled as the kid placed his grubby, sandy fingers on the Mandalorian's helmet, his big black eyes blinking at him with glee. 

The Mandalorian was vaguely aware of the woman moving to pick up his weapon, of the droid rolling closer to beep at him curiously, but he didn't care.

The Empire didn't find him. The kid was safe. 

Pushing himself up to sit, the Mandalorian carefully held a finger out to the kid, warmth pooling in his chest as the little alien latched onto his finger.

"I'm sorry," the Mandalorian finally said, "I just-"

"Like you said, he's your kid," the woman cut him off, "I can sense you two have a strong bond."

That made the Mandalorian turn to stare at her, bewildered, "A bond? I've only had him for a few days."

The woman shrugged, "I dunno... he seems to really care- I saw images of you while we were playing with rocks."

"Playing with- he could have hurt himself!" the Mandalorian chastised, then quickly picked the kid up to put him in his lap. The kid didn't mind, grabbing onto the edge of the Mandalorian's cape to chew on it.

"Okay, he is definitely your kid," the woman said, "wish my parents were like you."

"I'm a Mandalorian. I don't think you'd want that life."

The woman knelt down, placing his weapon at his feet where he sat. Her own weapon was slung across her back, the wood cracked and splintered from use. 

"Well," she sighed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ears, "I don't know how Mandalorians do things, but you might want to get him some clean clothes."

"Yeah, bounty hunting doesn't exactly pay for baby clothes," the Mandalorian chuckled, allowing the child to stick the finger he was holding onto into his mouth.

He really had to figure out what species the kid was. Never knew if their spit was acidic or something like some species he knew. The woman looked around before making a noise, picking up a stray rock and showing it to the kid. The BB-8 unit beeped happily, nudging the Mandalorian's knee.

"One last trick before I go!" the woman giggled at the child, holding her hand flat so her palm faced the sky. Her skin was an array of scars old and new, but the Mandalorian squashed down the urge to ask about them. The child bounced in the Mandalorian's lap, looking back at the Mandalorian to see if he was paying attention. 

"It's, uh... a really nice rock," the Mandalorian tried to encourage lamely. The woman laughed, and the child was content with his answer.

And then the woman focused her gaze on the rock, her eyes clouded over with something the Mandalorian couldn't quite name as the rock began to float, hovering a few inches above her palm.

Oh, Kriff.

Before the Mandalorian could say anything, the rock fell back into her palm and she held it out to the child.

"I don't think-" the Mandalorian protested, but the child took it despite this, and now it was the woman's turn to be surprised as the baby cooed and did the same thing, tiny fingers wiggling to keep the rock afloat. 

Silence hung like a blade over them as the rock fell into the sand, the kid wriggling in his lap to get it. 

"Please..." the Mandalorian hated how his voice cracked, "Please don't- I can't-"

"He's just like me," she breathed in awe, "But- how old-"

"Fifty, according to the puck," the Mandalorian explained, "a baby, by his species standards."

"And you didn't turn him in?"

"He's a baby," was all the Mandalorian found he could say. The kid was helpless, he was alone. There was no way of knowing how long he was in that crib when the Mandalorian found him, but he didn't want that for him.

Didn't want him to be alone. Like he was.

"The Guild has been after me since I took him back," the Mandalorian sighed, "but I can't let him fall into Imperial hands."

"I understand," the woman said, "It's the way, right?"

The Mandalorian paused, picking up his head to look at her, take in the brown eyes that were now soft, so much like Omera's eyes and for a second he was back on the farm, taking his meals in the barn while he watched Wista and the kid play from the window.

"What's your name?" the Mandalorian asked as the woman moved to stand. 

"I'm no one," she said.

"Don't seem like a 'no one' to me," the Mandalorian teased, "C'mon, kid. You must have a name?"

The woman pouted, biting her lip before relenting with a deep sigh.

"Rey," she admitted, "My name is Rey."

Rey. It suited her, the Mandalorian thought. Cocking his head, he ignored the sand creeping down his neck from under the helmet. The droid had gone quiet, rolling to stand next to Rey- it was about as tall as her mid-calf, the bottom of her knee if you wanted to count the antennae. 

"Best of luck on your travels," Rey smiled down at him, "if you're ever on Jakku, come find me, okay?"

The Mandalorian nodded.

"Until our paths cross again."

It seemed appropriate to say to her. Cara had said it when they left the farm and he saw some of that same fire in Rey, in her eyes, the way she held herself.

As he picked the kid up and went to stand, knees cracking and armor creaking, the Mandalorian hoped he saw Rey again in the future, or lived long enough to tell Omera and Cara about another Force user in the Galaxy.

But first, he had to get the kid some new clothes. 

**Author's Note:**

> Space Dad Mando basically sees Rey and says "Damn I guess I'm this kid's dad now"


End file.
